NAV Development Tools Preview – April Update

Welcome to the April update for the Developer Preview. Again this month we’ve been working on a lot of exciting stuff. Check out the list of what’s new below.

– Query and XmlPort objects have been added to the compiler.

– This update contains a conversion tool that allows you to take existing Dynamics NAV objects that have been exported in .txt format and convert them into the new .al format. It’s a two-step process; firstly exporting the objects from C/SIDE in a cleaned format, and secondly converting them to the new syntax. Give it a try by following these steps:

  • Export the objects using the command line. The client GUI doesn’t have the switch available, so you must use the command line, for example for table with ID 225:
    finsql.exe Command=ExportToNewSyntax, File=exportedObjects.txt, Database=”Demo Database NAV (10-0)”, ServerName=.\NAVDEMO ,Filter=Type=table;ID=225
  • Run the txt2al.exe converter tool. The tool is located in the ..\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics NAV\100\RoleTailored Client folder. Usage:
    txt2al <Source directory> <Destination directory> [-rename]
    -rename – Name the output files based on the object name.

Important: The conversion tool should only be used for export. Importing objects that have been exported can damage your application!

– You can now embed Permission Sets, Tenant Web Service definitions, and Custom Report Layouts in Extensions V2. The process is similar to the one that you used for Extensions V1 and you can follow the existing documentation: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-nav/how-to-export-data-for-an-extension.

– AL:Go! startup is under development to start supporting the choice between online and local development. For now, just select the Local server option.

algo_cloud

Typing Ctrl+Shift+P opens the command palette where you can execute the AL: Go! command. This will still prepare an empty project for you to start with and now includes a step for choosing if you’re working locally or against a cloud instance.

Note: When you do an F5 deploy you may be asked to enter your Azure account. This is a bug and because we haven’t been able to set “local” for your debug environment. To set this yourself, select the debug button from the left-hand menu and pick the local in the drop-down list for the configuration.

– In the Designer, drag and drop a page part to reposition it on the Role Center or FactBox pane. You can also hide an individual part. For now, the only way to make the hidden part visible again is to uninstall the extension or modify the extension using Visual Studio Code.

designer_drag

– You can now reposition the Freeze Pane on any list page or part by using the jewel on the column header.

designer_freeze

– The new Query and XmlPorts objects have snippet support as well. Take a look at tquery and txmlport. Here is an example of an XmlPort object in the new syntax:

xmlport

The Azure Gallery is already updated with the new images and any code written from last month should be forward compatible. Still, it’s always wise to have an outside source control system to let you save your work as you go.

We continue to fix the bugs reported by you. Keep them coming! You can see all the filed bugs on our GitHub issues list (https://github.com/Microsoft/AL/issues). To get an updated image you can see the steps for getting it in the original blog post or jump directly to the Azure Gallery signup at http://aka.ms/navdeveloperpreview. For a list of our previous blog posts, see the links at the end of this post.

Please file any bugs you find in our GitHub issues list https://github.com/Microsoft/AL/issues and don’t forget you’re welcome to contribute to the snippets to help everyone.

Thanks again and see you next month!

/NAV

Our earlier blog posts:

NAV Development Tools Preview – March Update

NAV Development Tools Preview – February Update

NAV Development Tools Preview – January Update

Announcing the Preview of Modern Development Tools for Dynamics NAV